NCSSMphotos
Views from a Polyorama Panoptique, Bolevaurd De Strausberg
A peep viewer that allowed the image to change dramatically; often from a day view to a night view of a scene, but sometimes it would completely change in appearance altogether. The metamorphosis would occur when the lid would open or close allowing the image inside to either be illuminated from the front or back. Pierre Seguin, inventor. France, c. 1850. This image is of the Bolevaurd De Strausberg, France c. 1850.
The devices in this exhibit were donated by Dr. Ralph E. Wileman, Professor Emeritus of Education at UNC-Chapel Hill. He collected the toys and devices, as well as the slides, films, and photos which can be shown on them while he was at UNC. For thirty years he had been collecting antiques, and on one occasion he found himself at an antique dealer in Maine. She showed him her collection of optical toys and he was immediately taken by them. In 1996, he decided to share his collection with the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. The Laura Hayes Wileman and John Howard Wileman Collection, named in honor of his children, is the largest and most varied of it’s kind in the southeastern United States.
These digital images were taken and donated to NCSSM by Alex Maness www.alexmaness.com/ of Durham, NC. Prints of the images are available for purchase and can be obtained from the artist. Inquiries may be made directly to him; Alex Maness, 336-707-6121, alex@alexmaness.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Views from a Polyorama Panoptique, Bolevaurd De Strausberg
A peep viewer that allowed the image to change dramatically; often from a day view to a night view of a scene, but sometimes it would completely change in appearance altogether. The metamorphosis would occur when the lid would open or close allowing the image inside to either be illuminated from the front or back. Pierre Seguin, inventor. France, c. 1850. This image is of the Bolevaurd De Strausberg, France c. 1850.
The devices in this exhibit were donated by Dr. Ralph E. Wileman, Professor Emeritus of Education at UNC-Chapel Hill. He collected the toys and devices, as well as the slides, films, and photos which can be shown on them while he was at UNC. For thirty years he had been collecting antiques, and on one occasion he found himself at an antique dealer in Maine. She showed him her collection of optical toys and he was immediately taken by them. In 1996, he decided to share his collection with the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. The Laura Hayes Wileman and John Howard Wileman Collection, named in honor of his children, is the largest and most varied of it’s kind in the southeastern United States.
These digital images were taken and donated to NCSSM by Alex Maness www.alexmaness.com/ of Durham, NC. Prints of the images are available for purchase and can be obtained from the artist. Inquiries may be made directly to him; Alex Maness, 336-707-6121, alex@alexmaness.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.